Foundations 2(5)

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A Reappraisal of the Medieval Ancestry of the Cranmers of Aslacton (Matthew Hovious)

Winner of the 2007 Charles F H Evans Award

The three Cranmer brothers born in Whatton in the late 1400s derived interesting connections from two descents, one generally acknowledged, one usually overlooked. This study aims to explore both lines, developing the known Aslacton lineage, and documenting and expanding the lineage of the Marshalls and their allied families. It attempts to unify previous publications, in a variety of scattered sources, regarding each family; and to sketch the careers of Cranmer’s ancestors in each lineage, to the extent that they can be determined by surviving records.

It is surprising how many gentry families flourished for generation after generation, rising up, surviving social and political set-backs, flitting in and out of the periphery of the national stage, only to sink back into deep historical obscurity. One such is the Parles family, landowners in Oxfordshire, Staffordshire and Northamptonshire. Descended from two brothers living in the reign of Henry II, it was the younger branch that achieved prominence – through notoriety, rather than wealth – and who overcame the early loss of their estates to establish themselves afresh before a series of deaths swept away a generation of young heirs, leaving the inheritance to pass out of the family.

The Two Wives of Robert Whitney, Esq., Lord of Whitney: A note on the proof of royal descent of John Bevan (Adrian Benjamin Burke)

This article provides contemporary evidence that Robert Whitney, a scion of the ancient knightly family of Whitney of Whitney, Herefordshire, married firstly Constance Touchet, daughter of James Touchet, 5th Baron Audley. It further argues that Whitney's second and last wife was Elizabeth Vaughan, daughter of Thomas ap Roger Vaughan.

A Cumberland Family with Roots in Medieval Scotland and Northern England: A Study of Gilbert Fitz Richer and his Descendants(Jane Brankstone Thomas, J C B Sharp & Michael Anne Guido)

The descendants of Gilbert Fitz Richer were prominent in both Scotland and northern England. These included such notables as Sir Gilbert Hay and Sir John Graham, both signers of the Declaration of Arbroath, as well as Gamelin the controversial thirteenth century bishop of St. Andrews.

Letter to the Editor: Illegitimate royal daughters(Keith Moore)

Research Query: Antecedents of Queen Helena ‘the Byzantine’, consort of Inge I of Sweden (M Sjöström)

Genealogical Flights of Fancy. Old Assumptions, New Sources(M. L. Bierbrier)

In this transcript of a talk given at the Annual General Meeting of the FMG in June 2007, Morris Bierbrier challenges medieval genealogists to adopt a highly critical stance in evaluating sources, and warns against some common pitfalls